Henry flad



IIE-Nur FLAI), or sr, LOUIS, MISSOURI.

Letters Patent No, 78,795, @zaad Jam 9,1868.

IMPROVEMENT IN WATER-METERS.

@its Stlnmlt referat it tu tigen Enters patent mit nutiugpwt ni tigtsmut.'

TO ALL WHOM' IT .MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, HENRY FLAI), of St. Louis, in the county ot' St.Lcuis,land State of Missouri, have made certain new' and usefulImprovements in Fluid-Meters; andI do hereby declare that the followingis 'a full and ,clear description thereof, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon. p

This invention relates to an improved form of meter, wherein an annularchamber is provided with aseries of travelling-pistons, that are forcedby the passing water, or other iiuid, Vto revolve continuously in onedirection, and thus measure the amount of 'thelluid passed through theapparatus by computing the quantity passed at one revolution, andcountinglthe number of revolutions. The pistons are to be attached to anannular rod, but are not to have any axial attachment. The revolutionsure to be counted by a magnetic needle, placed outside of the apparatus,aud actuated by a soft-iron bar attached to the piston-rod, and enclosedwithin the piston-chamber. The revolutions of the magnetic needle aretobe counted on a dial, placed on the outside of the apparatus, (but notshawn.) The piston-chamber is vtobe placed in a verticalplane, and theupper part of it is to be -filled with compressed air, while theduid-current flows through the bottom portion. Air-chambers are to beplaced at the sides of the piston-chamber, the capacity of which, incombination with the capacityof the piston-chamber, shall-be soproportioned to the fluid-pressure as to make the area occupied by the4com-'- pressed air alittle in excess of that occupied by thefluid-column. The arrangement of the inlet-pipe is to be ',such that thecolumn of fluid iowing into the apparatus will impinge against adiaphragm in one of the airboxes, and be directed by it toward thebottom of the piston-chamber, and a current through thc apparatus willbcproduced and maintained by the head of the fluid being higher on theinduction than on theY eduction side of the piston, when theoutlet-aperture is open. l

To enabie'those skilled in the art to make and use my improved meter,Iwill proceed vto describe its constg'uction and operation.4 V

d Figure 1 of the drawings is a vertical longitudinal central section ofthe improved meter.

'Figure 2 is a transverse central'sectional elevation ci the same. A l

The annular piston-chamber A may be square, round, or irregular in itstransverse section, and .it will be fitted with pistons, '13, providedwith suitable packings, and attached at short intervals tothe annularpiston-rod, B. This rod may be made in one continuous piece, or ofseveral short pieces, jointcd'togethcr.

. Arranged on opposite sides of the chamber A, and in open communicationwith it, will be the air-boxes C D, which will bc respectively fittedwith the induction-pipe c and the eductionl-pipc d, A diaphragm, c',will be placed in the box C, so asto direct the entering column of liuidin the direction of the arrow a', toward the bottom of thepiston-chamber. A magnetic needle, E, placed outside of the chamber A,will be turned around hy the action of the soft-iron bar e, attached tothe piston-rod, and will-register Von a dial (not shown) thenumber ofrevolutions.

In this manner lthe apparatus will be made self-registering, without anywaste of power by friction, which ,would be occasioned were theregistering-hand operated by an axle passing through stalling-boxes.

The apparatus thus constructed, the operation ofit will be as" follows:I

Letthe eduction-pipe be closed, and the induction-pipe opened. The fluidwill then flow into the apparatusk until'the air `in the top part di'the piston-chamber, andthe boxes C D, will be compressed to suchenextent as to equal the iluidlpressure, inch for inch. 4 The arrangementof the parts, and of thesizes'ot` the compartments, will be such that"the line y y, coinciding with the top of the i'nid and bottom of theair-areas, will nearly bsect theapparatus in a horizontal plane. Y

The pistons should fit closely in the bottom part of the chamber A, soas to prevent iiuid passing through bythe sides of the pistons, andloosely in the top part of the said chamber, so as to allow air to pass:through from onc'side to the other. The arrangement of theinduction-pipe should be such as to allow the air con tained in theiiuid to rise to 'the top partei' the chamber A, and ,the `quantity of uir derived from 4this source 11 usually be sucient to keep up theair-supply; but should itl not prove suicent in any instance, aforcingpump might easily be introduced for `the purpose of supplying thedeficiency. When the reduction-pipe is opened, the {luid on that sideof' the meter will fall to about the relativ'e position of the line y',and the di'erence in height between this line and the line y 'on theother side, will be suicient to -create 'a current through the apparatusin the direction of the arrows 2: :vrthe diaphragm d also actingfavorably to-g'ive the 'incomingr current direction in the-desiredmanner, as v`already described.

In lieu of the magnetic registering-device herein described2 a smalltappet 'might be used to acuate a ratchet-wheel, whichwould operate theregistering-apparatus, the said tappet being operated by one of therollers, 'i, passing over the inner end of the tappet`(which willibewithin the housing) at each revolution of thev apparatus.

Having described my invention', what I claim is,-`-' l The airqcheck inthe'chamber A, C, and AD', to prevent the flow of liquid in anydirection but that of vthe line of traverse of the piston, substantiallyas set forth.

The: combination of themagnetE, the soft bar e, andv the revolving,piston B', u'hen'acting substantially as set'forth. l v

HENRY-FLAD. Witnesses: A

Guo. P; Hmmm., Jr.,

M. RANDOLPH.

